Ilias
Jeff GeerlingBambu Lab 3D printers: never again.
They're breaking the open source social contract (for the nth time...), and I'm past hoping they'll amend their ways.
David Penfold 
Dr. Dek ๐จโ๐๐ง๐ )@geerlingguy wow what a nightmare
GrumpyDad ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ@geerlingguy I've been avoiding Bambu like the plague since they made their first blog post "trying to set the record straight".
OTOH I really need to get a new printer to replace my aging (and modded-to-death) ender 3.
Do you have any recommendations? I've been looking to the prusa core one+ (since the Bondtech INDX is or will be available for that). They seem to honor the open source community, but you never know what'll happen.
Perhaps I should just build a Voron 2.4 and be done with it.
OTOH I really need to get a new printer to replace my aging (and modded-to-death) ender 3.
Do you have any recommendations? I've been looking to the prusa core one+ (since the Bondtech INDX is or will be available for that). They seem to honor the open source community, but you never know what'll happen.
Perhaps I should just build a Voron 2.4 and be done with it.
Michael Cook@grumpydad @geerlingguy Prusa has been great for a really long time, support their printers well, and offer upgrades when possible.
You could have upgraded a MK3 to a CoreOne+ through upgrade kits over time if you wanted though it would be the printer of Theseus by the end.
Iโve got an INDX on order for my CoreOne+.
Passwordsarehard4@foobarsoft @grumpydad @geerlingguy Iโll second Prusa. Iโve been using mine for 5-6 years and upgraded it quite a bit.
Laura@grumpydad @geerlingguy Offline, offline, offline. They can try whatever they want if they're literally unable to alter your device's functionality.
@landelare @geerlingguy Its not only about the sw though. If possible I want the hw to be as generic as possible to not have any ties to a company (since if they do, prices are liable to be high)
mjr@grumpydad I've been happy with my 2.4 but I think if I were building now I'd go with the latest revision of the Trident. The new release is due out very soon and having the rigid frame for the tool head gantry is nicer for print quality at speed.
a@geerlingguy as someone who doesnโt know much about printers idk which one is the right brand then? I remember there were good reviews of bamboo labs in the past
Raptor 
@a @geerlingguy I'm locked in an older version (and a P1S set to be offline) and it's a very powerful program that's super easy to create parts and do edits directly in. (everything else is pushing towards doing the editing in blender which is overwhelmingly more complicated and way more than I'd ever want to deal with). They were legitimately great for a LONG time and the printers are some of the most affordable for their quality, it just sucks they're pushing for online only/drm stuff now
@raptor85 thanks! I wonder if I buy one will I be stuck in their shenanigans ? @geerlingguy
@a @geerlingguy I would honestly skip and buy a different one at this point. While you can still do what I did (disable all online features on the printer and never let it register online) there's no guarantee that will be easy on future firmwares and the software is a ticking timebomb that will stop functioning at some point in the future, it may be years, but at some point it'll be so out of date it would need to be run in a VM.
I do wish other printer software had better editing though....
GuySoftYou might like to see this, its part of OctoPrint v2.0 that is in the works:
https://github.com/OctoPrint/OctoPrint-BambuConnector
I just moved from my OctoPrint printer to a bambu p1s and I sorta want to go back, but I also need something that just prints.
https://github.com/OctoPrint/OctoPrint-BambuConnector
I just moved from my OctoPrint printer to a bambu p1s and I sorta want to go back, but I also need something that just prints.
John Poole@geerlingguy I'm 69 years old and was an attorney for 40 years, many of which were spent in litigation. One thing I've learned:
You fool me once, you dumbbell.
You fool me twice, me dumbbell.
That, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scorpion_and_the_Frog
PoopiSan@geerlingguy This also demonstrates the Open Source communityโs inability to enforce license terms.
@poopi it's mostly because companies pick battles with tiny projects and individuals, instead of other companies.
I don't blame an individual for not wanting to upend their life and plonk down $15k+ for lawyer help ($500/hour) just to be put under the big company's PR firm guns.
amy not at rust week@poopi @geerlingguy silly open source developers should just sue giant tech company, of course
with what funding
with what funding
@amy @geerlingguy That basically means that OSS concept is dead.
freeluna@geerlingguy Bambuโs strategy fits in well with California AB-2047, which is attempting to prevent 3d printers from making illegal gun parts, but would actually put a huge burden on other 3d printers makers, and also piss off a block of voters I donโt think democrats can afford to lose, and Iโm one of those voters.
Marcin Juszkiewicz ๐@geerlingguy I may be biased, but after reading posts and watching several videos about 3D printing, I had a feeling that too many Bambu lab users were similar to Apple users.
"There is only one brand, you shall not have other brands before me".
Pete Prodoehl ๐@hrw @geerlingguy I don't think of myself as a "Bambu Lab User" (though I suppose technically I am.)
I've personally owned 4 or 5 different brands (Bambu, Prusa, Monoprice, Ender) and built a RepRap in 2011.
Bambu got *a lot* right that others companies just could not, as far as quality and speed... openeness? Not as much.
And every (tech) choice is a tradeoff: price, quality, speed, openness, repairability, etc.
jer
ๅ@geerlingguy The whole mix of commercial and open source seems to be breaking down left and right these days :(
Carlos SolรญsAs if the last red flag wasn't bright enough. I understand not having the budget to move immediately, or relying on a specific technology with no alternative elsewhere, but the warnings were already there.
adingbatponder 
๐พ@geerlingguy Nice video Jeff. #bambu #bambulab #3dprinting #3dprinter is OFF my Xmas list list for ever.
Magnus Ahltorp@geerlingguy For those who canโt/donโt want to view a YouTube video:
https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2026/bambu-lab-abusing-open-source-social-contract/
Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract
Last year I said I'd probably never recommend another Bambu Lab printer again. I still use my P1S, but after Bambu Lab started pushing their always-connected cloud solution as the new default: I blocked the printer from the Internet via my OPNsense Firewall I stopped updating the firmware I locked the printer into Developer mode I deleted Bambu Studio and started using OrcaSlicer I had to do that to keep it under my control, instead of Bambu's.
Ganondalf>looks at FranEnder 3, wires strewn about, allen keys hither, thither and forth.
>screen that worked, surely, at some point
How can Bamboo even dare attempt to improve upon perfection such as this?
If I can't print with soul, I don't wanna print at all.
@Walruths Haha and so so many bed leveling failures :D
Mitex Leo@geerlingguy What do you recommend under $500? I'm new to 3D printing. Need something reliable to get started.
Filip Radelic@ml do you want your hobby to be 3d printing or 3d printers? If it's printing, then BambuLab is still the obvious choice. Not sure about US pricing, but you could probably get a P2S at or around that price which is an absolute beast. But even an A1 Mini at less than half your budget would be great to start with.
Dave@geerlingguy I'm in the market for a 3D printer. One brand I won't consider is Bambu Lab 3D printers.
So, if/when I buy a 3D printer to make boxes, cups, and/or board game playing pieces I'll make them without asking for Bambu's or any other vendor's blessing thank you very much.
@geerlingguy Food grad filament is available https://help.prusa3d.com/filament-material-guide
Erik@geerlingguy i am still on the fence about ever buying a printer. As a non techie, this is pushing me off said fence
Joshua Aspinall@geerlingguy vote with our wallets we must...
I'm considering a Qidi printer as my first, but not yet taken the plunge. Believe Klipper can be a little daunting for newcomers.
lemgandiWow. I already know that my kit-build MK4S will work just fine with the wifi board completely removed.
If I wanna print gun parts, ain't nobody's business but mine.
Geekman@geerlingguy Some advice would be helpful (maybe an expanded video?) for those of us who bought into the Bambu ecosystem during its heyday and intended it to be THE ONE 3D printer we were going to own for the foreseeable future.
My guess: Turn on LAN mode and use a 3rd-party slicer?
Thijzer@geerlingguy we shall call it BANNEDBU from now on
sash@geerlingguy Hi Jeff, I made an open source replacement/drop-in for the binary blob used in Orca Slicer to communicate with the printer. https://contentnation.net/en/grumpydevelop/bambunetwork_oss or the Orca Slicer github issue 12896. Could use some more testers, "works on my machine" P1S Ubuntu docker image. It should work on windows, mac and linux on arm, but I can't test it. You need a patched slicer to load the other .so, but no other functional change. Only does the minimum, can print and control all things on the printer.
MIfoodie@geerlingguy Have you (or anyone else here) had any experience with the Elegoo Centauri Carbon? I'm a little fed up with my gen 1Ender 3 and I don't want to down the Bambu Lab route because of all this stuff...
@MIfoodie @[email protected] I've heard good things about it and Snapmaker today, but haven't personally tested either.
Ann Effes@MIfoodie @geerlingguy @3dprinting
Have one, works like a charm. Especially considering the price.
oscarfalconOooh thanks for the insight Jeff, will stay with Prusa, been wanting to upgrade but this shit truly makes it a definite NOPE from me.